Business Websites

Your personal or professional presence on the Web can be the first and only impression you make on other people. Defining what those visitors experience, and how that impression is made is crucial to making the most of your web audience.

What is the purpose of your website?

This is the most important question you can ask when embarking on a Web project. Keep asking it as your project comes together.

Consider the goal of your website purely from a selfish perspective. What do you intend for the website to achieve?

Always make sure your website fulfills its original purpose. If it doesn't, some re-evaluation, either of goals, or of strategy, is in order.

What are the primary functions of your website?

Distinct from the purpose, the primary functions should be looked at from the visitors point of view.

How obvious is the practical function of your site? For the first time visitor, how long would it take "to get it"?

Does anything about your site distract from the primary function? Often websites favour form over function, or fall into the trap of stroking the ego of the business owner, rather than providing useful information or guidance.

How do you measure your website's performance?

Metrics, tracking, logs, stats, these are all great things. But once you have them, what are you doing with that information?

Create a process for tracking performance, and audit your website periodically against realistic requirements.